The Premier Paper Group and its customers, have planted in excess of 1,500 trees at The Prince William of Gloucester Barracks (PWOGB), home to the Royal Logistics Corps Territorial Army and a partner of The Woodland Trust.

Premier provides a unique opportunity for its customers to capture the CO2 emissions from the manufacture and distribution of their paper purchases and to invest in UK-based carbon projects. “For every order placed, we can calculate the amount of CO2 generated in the production and delivery of the paper. Customers can then elect to capture the associated carbon and the amount is added as a separate item to their invoice,” said Environmental Sales Director Chris Stanyon

To date, the merchant’s contributions have supported the planting of 160 hectares of native trees including Ash, Aspen, Oak and Rowan, at several of the Woodland Trust's Carbon Removal projects that comply with the Government's Woodland Carbon Code.

Taking this commitment to environmental protection one step further, Premier invited customers nationwide to join staff in planting 1,500 trees at PWOGB. The tree planting took place on 28th November. More than 65 of Premier’s customers joined staff from each of the merchant’s 16 regional branches, all rolling up their sleeves to plant the trees.

Situated on the outskirts of Grantham, a market town in Lincolnshire, the barracks also recognises the potential of tree planting as a way to strengthen relationships between civilian and military communities. The Woodland Trust is helping them achieve this through a partnership agreement, with the Trust planting trees under license or lease and handing back established woodland to the landowner after 10-15 years. The Trust enhanced the appeal of the planting by making it a part of the Jubilee Woods project, an ambitious initiative to plant six million trees to celebrate the 2012 Royal Diamond Jubilee.

The Woodland Trust looks after over 1,200 woodlands covering in excess of 60,000 acres throughout the UK. Dr Nick Atkinson, a carbon specialist at The Woodland Trust said: “Working in partnership with businesses like Premier Paper and landowners like the Ministry of Defence, is allowing us to create large areas of new native woodland, which over time will remove hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock it away permanently.” The Trust estimates that each hectare of woodland planted at PWOGB will lock up approximately 400 tonnes of C02.

“Premier Paper is leading the way, demonstrating its commitment to environmental responsibility and a tree planting event like this allows its customers to see for themselves and be a part of what they are supporting by participating in the Carbon Capture programme,” he said.

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading charity championing native woods and trees. It has 300,000 members and supporters.

The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees.

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres).